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NOTICE . The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now ios . per annum , post-free , payable in advance . Vot . I ., bound in cloth 4 s . fed . Vol . II ., riiito 7 s . fid . V ' ol . s III ., IV ., V . and VI each i s . od . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . 6 d . Ditto ditto 4 do . ... is . 6 d . United States of America . TUB FUSEMASON is delivered free iu any part of thc United States for 12 s . per annum , payable in advance . The Freemason is published on Saturday Mornings in lime for the early trains . The price of the Freemason is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , ios . ( payable in advance . ) All communications , letters , & c , lo be addressed to the F . ditoT , X 08 , Fleet-street , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted tohim , but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by pi-stag : stamps .

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gjirtljs , ilarrtogcs an & Icatljs . BIRTH . SYLVESTER . —Nov ,, 15 , at Henwick , Worcester , the wife of Bro . A . A . Sylvester , of a daughter .

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gnsfocrs to fllovvcspnbciits . All Communications , Advertisements , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 6 o ' clock on Wednesday evening . In the report of the installation at the Falcon Lodge , Thiisk , it should have been stated that Bro . J ' . E . Bamlctt ( not Bawlett ) is the W . M . In " Masonic I-egends" by Bio . Hughan , the name " Stephen lies " should be Stephen Jones . Errata : —In the report of Metham Lodge , for " No , l * , 02 " read "Xo . 1205 . " A coirespondent writes that Bro . Hammond is W . M . 1502 , and not liro . R . Robinson , as ' stated in our report . The following stand o \ cr-. Reports of Lodges 141 , 280 , 887 , 52 . - ; , I . -509 . E-c- ; 7 S * " 7 * s-c-

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THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY , FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT DAY . Drawn from the best sources and the most recent investigations . BY J . G . FINDEL , Second Edition , Revised , and Preface written by Bro . D . MURRAY LYON . One . ol ., 800 pages 8 vo ., with an Index . Cloth gilt . Price , ios . fid . ' ¦ This Lock is a strictly historical one , from which all is excluded that is not based upon asceitained or probable fact . "—Hrrildn : " Of its value to Fieemasons , as a detailed history of their Biotheriiood , it is not possible to speak too highly . " — Pullic Opinion . " 'Hie author seems to have fairly exhausted the subect . "—Tlie Athenaeum . "This volume is the history of Masonry par excellence Every interested person may regard it , therefore , as the present text-book on the subject . "—Mancliesltr Guardian London : GEORGE KENNING , 19 S , Meet Street . Now icady , with Index and Preface , in Twelve Imperial Folio Parts , ss . each , or bound i-i one handsome volume , £ 3 , THE FREEMASONS' LIBER MUSICUS , Dedicated by express permission to U . K . Ii . THE PRINCE OF WALKS , Past Grand Master of Kngland and Wales . Edited by Dn . WILLIAM SI-AUK , P . P . G . O ., W . Y . —298 . This Work contains 215 pp . and 188 Musical Compositions , suitable for the Ctieinonies of the Masonic Order ; First , Second , and Third Degrees ; Consecration and Dedication of Halls and Lodges , Programmes , Toasts , Songs , Trios , Choruses-, & C-, for Banquets and other Festive Gatherings ; Laying Foundation or Corner Stones ; Installation , Mark Masonry ; Royal Arch ; Masonic Funerals ; Voluntaries ; Marches , & c „ & c . HANDSOME CLOTH COX IMS , with gilt lines , and lettered , for Binding ( similar to those used for the Graphic and / Itttitratnt AV « ' - ) , price 5 s . each . LONDON : GEORGE KENNING . 1-18 , Fleet-street ..

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MADAME TUSSAUD'S EXHIBITION , BAKER STREET . Now added , PORTRAIT MODELS of the CZAR OF RUSSIA , SIR GARNET WOLSELEY , the Three Judges in the Tichborne Trial , Cockburn , Mellor , and Lush ; the Shah of Persia , Marshal MacMahon , M . Thiers , and thc late Mr . Charles Dickens . Admission is . Children under ten , fid . Extra Rooms , fid . Open frc'U ten a . m . to ten p . m .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 28 , 1874 .

Our Fund Of Benevolence.

OUR FUND OF BENEVOLENCE .

At the next quarterly communication Bro . Claborfs motion with reference to a grant of two-thirds of the yearly balance of the Fund of Benevolence to the Boys' and Girls' Schools will

have been discussed in Grand Lodge , and we shall refer to it specifically on anearly opportunity . This week we content ourselves with calling attention

to the iigures which the " Agenda Paper" of Grand Lodge has brought to the notice of its members . The statistical return of the Fund

of Benevolence is very notable in itself , and we have put together carefully some of its results for the information of the Craft . It seems that from 1 844 to 1876 , to the end , that is , of 1873 ,

the Grand Lodge had received as contributions from the lodges to the Fund of Benevolence the sum of sS 81 , 574 , from funded ' property , & c , about ^' , 000 , in round numbers , and from

" Constitutions , & c , m round numbers , s £ 2 , joo , making a grand total of ^ 106 , 274 . The petitioners relieved during that period amounted to 3 , 832 , and they received the

aggregate amount of s £ ^ , ^ g 6 13 s . 6 d . Annual grants were also made to the Benevolent Institution amounting to ^' 19 , 420 , and including a small sum , comparatively , for casual relief , not

exceeding , in round numbers , s £ ^ $ o , the whole amount expended reaches to agj $ , 666 13 s . < 5 d . more or less . There remains , on this period of 30 years , a balance of receipts over expenditure

of 0 ^ 25 , 053 7 s . id ., which sum is represented , at the end of 1873 by ££ 27 , 700 consols . A further accumulatedXsum of £ 10 , , which dates from before 18 43 , is represented by a

debt from the Fund ] of General Purposes , of £ \ 1 , 000 . Now these , as we said before , are very striking figures , and suggest many considerations to our fraternity . They tell , in the

first place , an unmistakeable tale of the great , nay , of the increasing prosperity of English Freemasonry . In the last five years , the increase of receipts over expenditure , in the Fund of

Benevolence alone , has been—186 9 , 38133 $ 3 s , 8 d . ; 1870 , ^ 1150 ns . 9 d . ; 1871 , £ 1966 13 s . ud . ; 1872 , £ 22 9 6 4 s . 6 d . ; 1873 , £ 1316 is . 4 d . The items and the total of the last quinquenninal

period no doubt suggest the probability of still increasing annual balances . But yet these figures , as it appears to us , demonstrate the abiding need of our Fund of

Benevolence to the Order and seem to point to the imperative duty , on our part , of the greatest caution in dealing with thc annual surplus . The time may fairly have arrived we admit , when

the Grand Lodge may feel disposer . to make an annual grant to tho Boys' and Girls' Schools , but we confess we are a little fearful , lest rel ying too much on a prosperity which may onl y be

temporary , we should in any way mortgage for future years , by premature enactment , the sums devoted to , and meant to be distributed in pure

and direct Masonic relief . Nothing so far seems to foreshadow any coming storm in our united and increasing Order , but still , in legis-

Our Fund Of Benevolence.

lating for so great an institution as Fieemasonry is , we must keep all human contingencies in mind , and we are therefore of opinion , on a first consideration of the subject , that it will be safer

for Grand Lodge to vote an annual grant , revocable at pleasure , than to make it part of the Book of Constitutions that one-third , or any other proportion of the annual surplus of the Fund of Benevolence is to be devoted to the

Boys' and Girls' Schools . The chanties are flourishing very greatly just now . They are not in want of financial aid , and the whole matter is so important in itself for the Craft , that it deseives long and careful deliberation .

The Use Of The Masonic Press.

THE USE OF THE MASONIC PRESS .

There are some of our good brethren who still question the value of the Masonic Press . There are a few—let us hope only a few—who think that all publication is bad , per se , in

matters Masonic . Whatever may have been the view of olden days , whatever may have been the feelings of a former generation of Craftsmen , it is quite clear , we think , that their fears

were groundless and their position unsound . All that non-publication did for Freemasonry was to surround it with a mass , so to say , of unhistorical statements—unreliable authorities , and

unverified quotations . For all these were the distinguishing characteristics of past Masonic literature , owing to the fact , principally , that we had then no discussion nor critical study possible ;

no public examination , either of alleged transactions or of ancient documents . But , in 1874 , with much proof of Masonic mental activity in other countries , it is impossible for English

Freemasons to stand still , or lag behind , in the race of intellect and inquiry , and we have therefore in this country the MASONIC MAGAZINE and the FREEMASON

for the information and edification of the English Craft in all matters Masonic . But still , despite every effort to rentier these Masonic publications worthy every way of our great Order , the old

leaven of opposition to the Masonic Press works out in a variety of ways , some serious enough , some childish , some amusing . Take our great charitable institutions . No publication has done

more to advance thc cause of the charities than THE FREEMASON , and yet what do we see , even at this hour ? Not one of tlie Institutions takes in the paper as an institution . We are expected

to publish long and verbose accounts of their meetings , yet never is the slightest helping hand held out Masonically to those who cater for Masonic information . We obtain a list of

candidates to advertize , and of donations to announce from time to time , and which is considered a token of patronage or a proof of favour , but which , in truth , we neither require nor apply

for-On one occasion during the year we had to publish thc list of successful candidates from a non-Masonic paper , and one of the institutions this very year has passed a resolution to advertize

alone in certain non-Masonic papers and The Era , but entirely excluding deliberately and carefully THE FREEMASON from any participation

in such announcements . Now , as we said before , we entirely disclaim either any question of personal feeling or of personal advantage in the